Late last month, five Federal agencies came together to offer a new opportunity to help communities overcome the obstacles they face in achieving better outcomes for disconnected youth – young people at high school age and older who are not in school and not employed. States, tribes, and municipalities can apply by March 4, 2015, to become Performance Partnership Pilots (P3) to test innovative, outcome-focused strategies aimed at achieving significant improvements for disconnected youth in educational, employment, and other key outcomes.

The P3 initiative enables up to 10 pilot programs to blend funds that they currently receive from different discretionary programs administered by the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Authorized as part of the FY2014 Omnibus spending bill, P3 allows new flexibility under Federal statutes, regulations, and other requirements to overcome barriers and align program and reporting requirements, enabling applicants to propose the most effective ways to use these dollars. In addition, these pilots will receive start-up grants of up to $700,000.

Approximately five million 14-to-24-year-olds in the U.S. are out of school and not working. In many cases, they face the additional challenges of being low-income, homeless, in foster care, or involved in the justice system. In response, the above-mentioned five federal agencies seek to help communities overcome the obstacles they face in achieving better outcomes for these young people as well as those at risk of becoming similarly disconnected from critical social institutions and supports. Existing federal funding streams that are recommended as part of P3 proposals include the Department of Education’s Promise Neighborhoods initiative and the AmeriCorps programs through CNCS. Afterschool programs with a positive track record of impacting older youth will be critical partners for states and local governments applying for P3.

The Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO) Council was established by the Texas Legislature in 2013 in order to improve quality and access to expanded learning opportunities in the state, including afterschool and summer programs. On November 1, the ELO Council published its first report, 2016-2017 Statewide Strategic Plan for Expanded Learning Opportunities, with the support of the Texas Partnership for Out of School Time (TXPOST). In the report, the council states that “high-quality ELO programs provide safe places, support economic growth, and help close the academic achievement gap by offering supplemental activities that support but do not replicate the general education program.”

The council recommends the creation of a Texas ELO Initiative within the Texas Education Agency and outlines four specific goals for the initiative:

Expand Texas student and family access to high-quality ELO programs.

Make high-quality resources available for ELO programs in Texas.

Strengthen statewide leadership and coordination

Identify the characteristics of Texas ELO programs that have the most impact on students, including academic achievement, character development, workforce readiness, economic development and assistance to working families

Today the Senate followed the action of the House of Representatives this past September and passed S.1086–The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014: Amended Version. The bipartisan, bicameral bill represents a compromise of the legislation that passed the Senate in March by a vote of 96-2. Due to the changes in the House version, the Senate has to pass the bill again before sending it to the president’s desk to be signed into law. This marks the first time in 18 years that comprehensive Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) reauthorization legislation has passed both the House and Senate.

The bill that passed reflects a bipartisan agreement reached by Congressional leaders in mid-September to reauthorize CCDBG after several months of negotiations by Reps. John Kline (R-Minn.), George Miller (D-Calif.), Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) and David Loebsack (D-Iowa), as well as Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), and Richard Burr (R-N.C.). The agreement will enhance transparency, strengthen health and safety protections, and improve the quality of care for children of low-income families aged birth to 13.

According to a recent fact sheet released by the Center for Law and Social Policy, one-third of children served in CCDBG are between ages 6 and 13—more than 497,000 per month—and are primarily provided with care after school. For school-age CCDBG providers, the key changes included in the House bill include:

Provisions to keep children healthy and safe:

States must provide pre-service health and safety training to all CCDBG providers.

States must develop health and safety standards related to things such as first aid, CPR and child abuse prevention.

States must perform at least one annual inspection and at least one pre-licensure inspection of CCDBG providers and an annual fire, health and safety inspection of license-exempt CCDBG providers.

Individuals who provide care for children with the support of CCDBG funding must undergo a comprehensive background check.

Improving program quality while simultaneously ensuring that federal funds support low-income and at-risk children and families:

The amount states set aside for quality improvement activities, including those aimed at school-age programs and providers, must be at least 9 percent within five years of enactment and states must report on what activities they choose to invest in.

Allows state funding of resource and referral systems to help families connect with quality child care.

Allows states to conduct a cost-estimation model in place of a market rate survey on which to base provider payment rates to allow states to show a connection of the rates to the cost of care.

Families that initially qualify for a subsidy get care for at least a year, regardless of changes in income or work, training, or education status.

Providing protections for children and families who receive assistance:

Unlike the original Senate bill, which did not specify funding levels, the House-passed version authorized an increase in funding of about $400 million over the next six years, which breaks down as follows:

Legislation that would provide affordable and timely background checks to afterschool program providers still has a chance to pass during the 114th Congress. The Child Protection Improvements Act (CPIA - S. 1362 and H.R. 3902) would provide afterschool and other youth-serving organizations with access to nationwide FBI fingerprint searches of potential volunteers at a reasonable cost and turnaround time. The legislation addresses inadequacies within the current background check system, which include: lack of access to nationwide checks, high cost and an often-lengthy response time.

In the wake of the 2014 midterm elections, time is running out for Members of Congress to pass CPIA before Congress adjourns in December. The legislation enjoys strong bipartisan support and this month the Afterschool Alliance joined MENTOR and 20 other youth serving organizations in signing letters to Senate and House leaders in support of the bill.

Specifically, CPIA would:

Create universal access to nationwide background searches, by designating a criminal history review entity or organization to process background checks on prospective employees and volunteers for youth-serving organizations.

Provide participating organizations with reliable and accurate information as to whether an individual’s criminal record bears upon his fitness to work or volunteer with children.

Create a “one-stop” system where a local organization could elect to obtain both a state and FBI search in one place.

Keep the fee for nationwide background checks and criminal history review as low as possible for youth-serving organizations at no more than the actual cost — with a maximum of $25.

Ensure that individuals that are subject to background checks can request their full criminal histories, challenge their accuracy and completeness, and receive a prompt response from the jurisdiction holding the records.

Address the disparities between states in offering federal background checks. The American Camp Association has a resource available that shows whether or not FBI criminal background checks are required for volunteers and the amount charged for processing background checks. To complete a search, enter your state and identify the row titled “State Allows FBI Checks”.

After more than a month-long recess leading up to the mid-term elections, Members of Congress are back in the Nation’s capitol and will be in session starting on Wednesday, November 12th for a “Lame Duck” session that must finalize the FY 2015 appropriations spending bills to fund federal government operations for the period December 12, 2014, through September 30, 2015. The government is currently funded through a continuing resolution (CR) at FY 2014 levels.

The Bipartisan Budget Act that passed in December 2013 capped discretionary spending at $1.014 trillion in FY 2015 – essentially the mid-point between Senate budget level of $1.058 trillion and the House budget level of $967 billion. The agreement restored $63 billion in sequestration cuts over two years, split evenly between defense and nondefense discretionary spending programs. Nondefense discretionary spending (which includes most federal support for afterschool and summer learning programs though the Department of Education and Health and Human Services) is capped at $492.4 billion in FY 2015, however that will change going into FY 2016 at which time nondefense discretionary spending faces a $43 billion (8 percent) cut, unless Congress acts to reverse sequestration.

Adding to the pressure, President Obama is seeking additional FY 2015 funds to address foreign security issues and to respond to the Ebola crisis. The White House announced last week that it will request $6.2 billion in mostly emergency funding to fight the Ebola outbreak - more than $4.5 billion would be designated as emergency spending. (Note: this funding level is consistent with other health-related emergency requests such as the Avian and H1N1 flu outbreaks).

It is still possible that a short-term funding bill which would last through early 2015 will be passed in December; however, Appropriations Committee Chairs Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Representative Harold Rogers (R-KY) reportedly are in “serious negotiations” to craft an omnibus funding bill that covers the rest of the fiscal year. Both Members are on the record as backing the passage of such a bill and want to reverse sequestration as well. Another possibility is a hybrid of a mini-bus with policy and spending changes covering some agencies and a continuing resolution funding the remaining agency spending bills.

Afterschool advocates can continue to reach out to Congress in support of afterschool and summer learning funding throughout the coming weeks as spending decisions are negotiated.

After more than a year of anticipation, the 2014 midterm elections finally came and (mostly) went this week. With a few races still not officially decided, the headline is that the Republican Party will take over as the majority in the Senate in the next Congress with at least 52 seats, and they also added to their majority in the House. The 114th Congress, when it is sworn in early next year, will be one half of a divided government in Washington, opposite President Obama in the White House.

The shift in control of Congress is potentially historic. In the House, the Republicans increased their majority to at least 243 seats, with Republican candidates leading in several undecided races. It is possible the Republican Party will control as many as 250 seats in the House, the largest Republican House majority since 1928.

For supporters of afterschool programs the shift in the make-up of Congress next year provides an opportunity to reach out to newly-elected officials about the value and importance of afterschool and summer learning programs in contributing to student success, helping working families, and keeping young people safe. There will be at least 69 new members of Congress to get to know: 11 in the Senate (one Democrat and 10 Republicans) and 58 in the House (18 Democrats and 50 Republicans). A number of resources on the Afterschool Alliance website can help you introduce new members of Congress to the power of afterschool.

The education and appropriation committees in both chambers of Congress that make funding and policy decisions around programs that support afterschool will see changes in leadership and membership. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), an original co-sponsor of S. 326 the Afterschool for America’s Children Act, is likely to replace Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) as the senior Democrat on the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, while former Secretary of Education and past Governor of Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) will become the new chairman of the HELP Committee. In the recent past, Alexander has proposed Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization legislation (S. 1101) that would reduce the role of the federal government would consolidate a number of education funding streams, including the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, into two block grants.

In the House, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) is likely to become the new ranking member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee as Rep. George Miller (D-CA) announced his retirement earlier this Congress. Chairman Kline (R-MN) will likely continue to lead the House Education and the Workforce Committee; however, he will need a waiver from the Speaker of the House, as he has served for six years as Chairman. While Speaker Boehner is expected to grant the waiver, this has not been confirmed. Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY), a member of the committee, was defeated, as was Senate HELP Committee member Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC).

Changes will also occur to the membership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, particularly the subcommittees overseeing education spending. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee was defeated, and two other Democratic appropriators are in jeopardy: Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) is trailing in his race and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) faces a runoff election on Dec. 6th. While committee assignments for the new Congress will not be known until next year, House Afterschool Caucus Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) was elected to serve as the newest Senator from West Virginia.

Stay tuned for additional blog posts on the upcoming lame duck session of Congress: a session that will see action on fiscal year 2015 spending as well as reauthorization of the Child Care Development Block Grant program.

Don’t forget to get out and vote tomorrow! No matter the results of the midterm elections, we can expect a number of new faces in public offices across the country, from local school boards to governor’s mansions to Congress. We know from the recent America After 3PM data that an overwhelming majority of parents, 84 percent, support public funding for afterschool programs including 91 percent of Democratic parents and 80 percent of Republican parents. Education is among the portfolio of issues being mentioned by candidates.

This winter will be the perfect time to educate newly elected officials and their incoming staff on the importance of quality afterschool programs for all students. You can even bring the new America After 3 PM data with you to let officials know the afterschool landscape in their state. For more guidance on post-election follow up see the Afterschool Alliance’s toolbox on Making Afterschool an Election Issue.

For more information on what is at stake for education in the election check out the Education WeekElection Guide and this Politico article breaking down how education has played out this election cycle. There you can find information about what the candidates are saying regarding recent education hot topics such as early childhood education, higher education costs, Common Core and high-stakes testing.

Earlier this week Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) announced plans to introduce the Community Partnerships in Education Act, which will help children and families by investing in high-quality afterschool systems nationwide. The bill supports quality afterschool programs by incentivizing and requiring strong partnerships between schools and community-based organizations in an effort to increase student engagement in programs that support education and career readiness.

In an event announcing the bill at Nathan Bishop Middle School in Providence, R.I., Rep. Cicilline, who has served on the Afterschool Alliance board of directors since his days as mayor of Providence, stated “Afterschool programs are one of the single most effective ways to keep children safe outside of school and on track for success. When young people succeed it leads to stronger communities and a stronger economy. The Community Partnerships in Education Act will help keep children safe and ensure children have access to enriching activities out of school.”

Ensure strong school-community partnerships for program planning, professional development, school curricula and student data;

Strengthen the role of results-oriented intermediaries;

Advance the growth of effective systems through data sharing; and

Improve program accountability by incorporating academic achievement and 21st century skills—such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration—as part of measurable program outcomes.

The bill is expected to be introduced when Congress returns in mid-November and is supported by Every Hour Counts, PASA, After School Matters (Chicago), Boston After School and Beyond, Family League of Baltimore, Nashville After Zone Alliance, Partnership for Children and Youth (Bay Area, Calif.), Prime Time Palm Beach County, The After-School Corporation (New York), and Youthprise (Twin Cities, Minn.).